Many kinds of diseases and accidents may cause harm to the human body and results in pain, wound, infection, and injury that require both swift and continuous treatments. The treatment of such wounds/injuries has been a crucial part of healthcare. Various methods and devices have been developed to improve the quality of care that may be provided in such treatments and the healing process. Among these approaches are temperature alternation techniques, such as the application of heat or coldness by different sources.
Application of heat, or coldness, or alternating temperature changes have been widely used in the treatment of wound, infection, pain, and injury for a very long time. In addition, the heating treatment may also prevent cutaneous/skin infections as well as preventing skin infection pre-operatively. Heating treatments such as heat pads are believed to cause the dilation of blood vessels, facilitate perfusion to the target tissues and cycling of blood, and sterilize the targeting area. Cold treatments such as ice pads are believed to reduce infection and wound development, allowing quicker healing and recovery.
The temperature altering treatments, especially the application of heat, are widely in use but there are still a number of general shortcomings. For example, the heat applicators nowadays are generally bulky and difficult to fit onto small wounds or injuries at locations that are hard to access. In addition, the regular heating applicators are not long lasting, requiring frequent change of the applicator. Thirdly, some of the heat applicators are hard to reheat. In general, the existing heating application treatment devices are low in efficiency and high in waste of energy. These treatment devices cannot keep up with the development of new problem, such as the escalating crisis of multi-drug resistant infections including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Therefore, the development of new technology is desirable and the current invention serves as a powerful alternative to the previous devices.
Nanotechnology stands at the vanguard of integrating science and engineering and it has undergone significant progress in recent years. By using materials having nanometer level dimensions and special physical characteristics, nanotechnology has been proved to be a promising field of innovation. In particular, a number of improvements in nanotechnology using nanofibers, nanotubes, and nano-particles have enabled the production of batteries that provide higher energy density, last longer, and/or recharges faster. In addition, nanofibers have been shown to be applicable in a number of disciplines such as material science, molecular biology, and medical sciences. Nevertheless, the use of nanofibers and nanotechnology batteries in medical devices, particular treatment devices, has been scanty and leaves much to be desired. The current invention addresses such needs.
Reviewing of Related Technology:
US20080023394 discloses a medical filter material comprising a dispersion of nanofibers of thermoplastic polymer having a number average diameter of 1 to 500 nm wherein the ratio of single fibers with a diameter of more than 500 nm and 1 nm or less is 3% or less in terms of weight ratio. Further, there are provided, utilizing the medical filter material, an extracorporeal circulation column and a blood filter. Through the employment of nanofibers small in fiber diameter dispersion, high in strength and high in productivity, there can be provided a medical filter material excellent in hemadsorption performance and protein adsorption performance. Through packing with this medical filter material, there can be provided high-performance extracorporeal circulation column and blood filter.
US20080069905 teaches a therapeutic treatment device comprising a compound comprising a drug and a nitric oxide (NO) eluting polymer arranged to contact a treatment site in or on a body. The device is acting as a booster for drug eluting patches, e.g. pharmaceuticals, vitamins, nicotin, nitroglycerin, whereby with advantage two therapeutic treatments, of significant value, are combined in one treatment. A synergetic effect is achieved by such devices because NO that is eluted from the device boosts the effect of the drug, as the treatment site is more susceptible to said drug by the effect of the eluted NO.
Various devices are known in the art. Nevertheless, their structures are distinctively different from the current invention. Moreover, the other inventions fail to address all of the problems solved by the invention described herein. One embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be described in more detail herein below.